Joe OviedoWhen I imagine a new community, it’s easier to think about what I’ll put into it than what I’ll ask of people. I can make a list in ten minutes: a monthly session, a place for questions, something to help people get started. It’s harder to picture someone who’s already joined, has twenty minutes free on Thursday, and opens the group. Why are they opening it? What could they do there that they couldn’t do just as well by emailing me?
If I can’t answer that, I don’t think I need more activities. I think I still don’t know what these people can do together.
I’d start with something they’re already dealing with
Imagine I want to bring together independent professionals who are learning to sell their work. I could ask them to introduce themselves and say what they hope to get out of the community. That’s fine for breaking the ice, but I suspect I’d hear things like “learn from others” or “make connections.” I’d have trouble giving a more specific answer too if I’d just arrived and didn’t know how the group worked yet.
I’d rather ask them to bring a decision they’re facing that week. A proposal they don’t know how to price. A message they want to answer without committing to more work than they can do. A project they’re interested in but aren’t sure they have time for. It doesn’t have to be the biggest problem in their business. It has to be something they were going to sit down and deal with anyway.
And I wouldn’t ask everyone to give advice as if they had an answer for everything. Sometimes helping means reading a proposal and saying, “I understood this to mean you’d deliver it on Friday. Is that what you meant?” That can be more useful than ten opinions about what someone should charge. And you don’t have to be the most experienced person in the room to notice where the wording could be misunderstood.
I’d watch what happens when I don’t have the answer
At the first meeting, I’d probably do quite a bit: explain how it works, keep an eye on the time, and make sure no one takes over the conversation. That wouldn’t worry me. What I’d want to see is what happens when I stop answering for a while.
If someone brings a quote and another person tells them they lost money last month by including unlimited revisions, the conversation has already done something I couldn’t have prepared in advance. And if the first person comes back a week later to say what happened after changing that part of their proposal, I have something more interesting than an active group: two people who can think through a decision better because of what the other shared.
The opposite could happen too. Everyone might bring a case, wait for my opinion, and tune out when it’s someone else’s turn. I wouldn’t take that as a lack of commitment. Maybe they want a session with me and don’t yet have a reason to meet with each other. If that’s the case, I can offer a good working session without promising a community. They’re different experiences, and I don’t need one to look like the other.
I wouldn’t ask them to stay yet
Before thinking about a monthly fee, I’d run a short first round and say that’s what it is. I’d ask people to bring a decision, give someone else’s case their attention, and come back to say what happened when they tried something. That’s more concrete than asking them to “participate.” It commits me to something too: if I’m asking for their time and attention, I want them to leave with something they can use that week.
At the end, it wouldn’t be enough to ask if they liked it. I’d want to know what they did differently, who helped them see it, and when it would have been useful to have the group around again. Maybe they need it every time they price a difficult project, but not every Thursday. Maybe they want to come back to hear how others got on, even when they don’t have a case that week. Or maybe the first meeting gave them what they needed and there’s not much else to ask of them. Any of those answers helps me decide what to build.
I’d be glad to hear someone leave saying, “That was useful.” But before offering them a membership, I’d like to hear something more specific: “The next time this happens, I know who I want to think it through with.”
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